Besides being the main seaport of Montenegro, Bar (Italian: Antivari / Antibari, Albanian: Tivari, Greek: Θηβάριον, Thivárion, Αντιβάριον, Antivàrion, Latin: Antibarium) and its surroundings are also a major tourist destination. Today's Bar is a modern city, built almost entirely after World War II, with modern buildings, wide boulevards and lots of parking space. The area around the port and waterfront is especially attractive, with long pedestrian promenades and parks shaded with luxuriant vegetation. The city's surroundings are mostly untouched nature and rich in vegetation.

Next to the main commercial and ferry harbour on its NE side is a large and sheltered marina basin which has its own entrance and hosts three separate operations, Expert Marine and International Yacht Center (both Russian-owned) which occupy the first and second jetties on the W side and AD Marina, which manages the berths on the remaining six jetties. At the NE corner of the commercial harbour is a small basin which contains the customs quay, a naval facility and, to the S, the large boatyard operation of OMC Marina, which can haul out yachts of up to 260T. There are no berths in the commercial harbour for visiting yachts except alongside the customs quay while awaiting clearance.

Charts

Weather

Bar has a wind blowing from the south about 88 days a year, mostly during the winter. The southern wind is very soft and warm, but raises a swell. The typical weather temperature in July is around 28°C (82°F). There are approximately 2160 sunny hours a year. In winter the temperature drops to 10°C at its lowest.

Islands

Communication

Navigation

There are no dangers in the approach. From both S and N the oil storage tanks on Rt Volujica, the headland immediately S of the harbour, are conspicuous. The main harbour is entered from N round the end of a long breakwater extending NNE from Rt Volujica. The marina is entered from ENE between two breakwaters 300 metres E of the main harbour entrance.

Entrance

One can either moor on the customs quay (on the N side of the small basin at the NE corner of the commercial harbour, past the ferry terminal, or berth in the marina while completing the formalities.
The harbour master's office is on the ground floor of a grey concrete building opposite the Turist Cafe in a small park about 300 meters due E of the ferry terminal building (where port police and customs are housed). Once having completed the formalities, one either pays the fees for the necessary vignette into a bank and returns with the receipt to obtain the vignette or (especially when the banks are closed, e.g. Sunday) pays the harbour master directly – with a modest additional fee for the inconvenience. Official hours are 09:00 – 13:00, though in practice it is possible to clear in or out outside those hours. Next, one takes the harbour master's approved crew list to the port police and then customs, who each keep a copy and stamp your original. Their offices are in the ferry terminal. The process is not too painful if one is patient.

Berthing

Typical Bar marina resident

Marinas & Yacht Clubs

There are three separate berthing operations in the marina basin, as mentioned above. International Yacht Center and Expert Marine, on the first and second jetties respectively from the right on entry, and AD Marina on the remaining jetties. Most of the jetties offer a mix of laid moorings and alongside berthing. There are water and electricity points on all jetties and all three marina operations have wifi. There is a small toilet and shower block that services all three operations on the N side of the blue terminal building.

Typical daily berthing prices (2014) in AD Marina for a 13 metre yacht are Euros 77 and in the two other operations around Euros 50.

Possibility for bunkering of Tax Free Diesel for private and chartered yacht in transit or on departure before clearing out Montenegro's water. To have authorized agent while bunkering tax and duty free diesel is mandatory

There is a well-stocked chandlery at OMC Marina on the NE side of the commercial harbour. There is also a small nautical equipment shop in a block on the waterfront, around 400 metres N of the AD Marina

Services

Repairs

The operation of OMC Marina in the NE basin opposite the customs quay can haul out yachts of up to 260 tonnes, has a 50 T crane and and offers winter storage on the hard or under cover. AD Marina can also lift out yachts using a mobile crane and has a small area of hard standing.

Provisioning

There is a good supermarket about one kilometer from the port along the main road heading into the centre (in the most southerly of the three 'spaceship' structures).

Eating out

There are numerous pizza restaurants and cafes both along the pedestrianised waterfront heading N and along the main road heading E into the centre.

Pulena Pizza restaurant (on the E side of the most southerly of the three 'spaceship' structures, round the corner from the supermarket) is excellent and beer is only Euros 2 for 500ml.

Ciao, on the waterfront N of the marina, is another good pizza and local food restaurant.

There is also a (quite upmarket) restaurant above the ferry terminal office (on the marina side).

Of the Stari Grad restaurants, Konoba Spilia and Konoba Kaldrma are the most characterful (the latter does not serve alcohol).

Transportation

Ferries to Italy, Greece and Croatia

Trains to Podgorica

Buses to Pogorica, Kotor, Budva and Ulcinj

Tourism

History

Give a short history of the port.

Places to Visit

Bar waterfront is pleasantly leafy

The new cathedral of Bar will be spectacular

Stari Bar, the old town of Bar

King Nicholas' Palace

King Nicholas. Nicholas was the one and only king of Montenegro and his palace, an important historical and cultural monument of the 19th century, is by the shore 300 metres N of the marina. Within the palace there is the County Museum, which houses the most important archaeological items of the area and in its garden are planted very rare trees and exotic plants, creating a unique historical and environmental ambiance.

One of the most spectacular sights in Bar – when finished – will be the new Orthodox cathedral. Already, in its incomplete state, the building looks stunning, with its gilded domes and cupolas gleaming in the sun. It is probably destined to become Bar's answer to Gaudi's cathedral of La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

Further afield and easily visited by taxi (around Euros 4-5} is the largely ruined but impressive Stari Bar (old town) of Bar. The site lies around 4 kms out of the city off the road S to Ulcinj. The settlement here dates backItalic text to the 8th century BC and successive occupants such as Slavs, Byzantines, Venetians and Ottomans have all left their traces. In addition to the atmospheric cobbled streets and ancient walls, there are several ruined churches, a fortress and a small museum on the site. The cobbled street leading up to it has several homely restaurants for lunch.

On the N side of the old town is a large and well preserved Bar Aqueduct constructed during the 16th - 17th centuries. Nearby is the very old olive tree that is called Mirovica. They believe that it is 2,000 years old and that it is one of the oldest olive trees in the world. It has been declared a national monument since 1975 and it is one of the “must see” sights in the area.

Friends

Contact details of "Cruiser's Friends" that can be contacted for local information or assistance.

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